Lyon's Plan Canopée — A Metropolitan Urban-Forest Strategy to Cool the City and Even Out Tree Cover

The Métropole de Lyon's Plan Canopée (launched around 2017–2018 and running to 2030) sets out a strategy to protect and develop the urban forest, chiefly to cool the city in heatwaves. It has 25 actions in four axes: preserve and develop tree heritage; promote citizen well-being and mobilisation; unite professionals around the plan; and improve knowledge and develop new practices. It builds on the Métropole's Tree Charters of 2000 and 2011.
Reported figures: trees in public spaces rose from about 42,000 in 1990 to about 100,000 (a factor of 2.4), with roughly 60,000 trees planted over 25 years. Shaded surface is about 27% of the territory, with an objective of 30%. The plan explicitly targets the 'tree inequality' between the eastern and western districts. Métropole documentation reports an absolute temperature drop of 1 to 2°C under tree shelter and a perceived (UTCI) reduction of 10 to 11 degrees in parks and tree-lined avenues.
The plan also seeks public and private planting projects and collaboration beyond the landscape sector. The national climate-adaptation portal describes the plan but gives no quantified results or budget, and neither source reports carbon, biodiversity or stormwater measurements. Tree survival and long-term canopy change are not documented in the sources reviewed, so results should be read as output and target figures rather than proven impact.

Read the full analysis: https://developpementdurable.grandlyon.com/en-actions/dispositifs-partenariaux/plan-canopee-larbre-au-service-du-climat-urbain/